Maksim Chmerkovskiy
Maksim "Maks" Aleksandrovich Chmerkovskiy (Ukrainian: Максим Олекса́ндрович Чмерковський, Maksym Oleksándrovych Čmerkovsʹkyj, pronounced [mɑkˈsɪm olɛkˈsɑndroβ̞ɪtʃ ˈtʃmɛrkou̯sʲkɪj]; Russian: Максим Александрович Чмерковский; born January 17, 1980 is a Ukrainian Latin Ballroom dance champion, choreographer, and instructor. He is widely known as one of the professional dancers on the American television series Dancing with the Stars, on which he first appeared in season two. In 14 appearances on the show, Chmerkovskiy made it to the final round five times, with two runner-up and two third place finishes. On May 20, 2014 Chmerkovskiy won his first mirror ball trophy with celebrity partner Meryl Davis. Section heading Write the first section of your page here. Dancing with the Stars Chmerkovskiy first appeared in the 2nd season of the ABC series Dancing with the Stars partnered with actress Tia Carrere. They finished in sixth place. The following season, he and partner singer Willa Ford came in seventh place. Chmerkovskiy returned to Dancing with the Stars in March 2007 for Season 4, his time partnered with boxer Laila Ali. They made it to the finals and finished in third place. In Season 5 of Dancing with the Stars, he was partnered with Melanie Brown and the couple received second place. Chmerkovskiy did not participate in Season 6, although he and former partner Melanie Brown made an appearance for the 100th episode. He returned for the show's 7th season, this time paired with two-time Olympic volleyball gold medalist, Misty May-Treanor. Chmerkovskiy and May-Treanor were forced to withdraw from the competition in Week 3. During a practice for their jive, May-Treanor ruptured her Achilles tendon and required surgery. Her withdrawal gave them a finish in tenth place. On February 9, 2009, on Good Morning America it was announced that he would be paired with Denise Richards for the eighth season of Dancing with the Stars. They were eliminated second in the competition, giving the pair a finish of 12th place. In the ninth season, he was paired with actress Debi Mazar, during which they were eliminated 4th. In season 10, Chmerkovskiy, returning for his 8th season, was partnered with Erin Andrews.[10] They ended up coming in 3rd place during the two-hour finale on May 25, 2010. For season 11, Chmerkovskiy partnered with singer and actress, Brandy. They made it to the semi-finals but were eliminated with a 4th place finish.[11] For Season 12, he was paired with actress Kirstie Alley. On week 3, his leg gave out causing her to fall heavily on him, earning 21 out of 30. The next week, Alley's shoe fell off during their routine. JudgeCarrie Ann Inaba called Alley The Queen of the Unexpected Mishap; they earned 22 out of a possible score of 30. They made it to the finals and finished in second place. For season 13, he was partnered with Hope Solo and they finished in 4th place. In Solo's book, A Memoir of Hope, she wrote that Chmerkovskiy treated her roughly, once slapping her during a rehearsal.[12] For season 14, he was partnered with actress Melissa Gilbert. In week 4, while performing the paso doble, Gilbert hit her head on the dance floor and suffered a mild concussion. She was rushed to the hospital and was unable to be at the results show the following night. The couple was called safe. Chmerkovskiy also suffered an injury. He pulled a muscle in his shoulder. The couple was eliminated four weeks later, finishing in 5th place, making this the fourth time that he was eliminated after dancing a samba.[citation needed] For season 15, an All-Stars season, Maksim returned to the dance floor with previous partner, Kirstie Alley. In week 1, Alley received the lowest score, a 19.0 out of a possible 30. In week 3, Alley and Chmerkovskiy danced a Cha-Cha-Cha, they scored 17 out of a possible 30. Alley and Chmerkovskiy earned 24.0 out of a possible 30. They picked a Disco for Sabrina Bryan and Louis van Amstel to dance next week, and Bryan and Amstel chose the Charleston for Alley and Chmerkovskiy. For the dance, the couple fell to the bottom of the leaderboard with 30.0 out of a possible 40. Alley and Chmerkovskiy, season 3 Emmitt Smith and Cheryl Burke, and season 1 Kelly Monaco and Valentin Chmerkovskiy were all joined in the Gangnam Style freestyle team by season 8 runner-up Gilles Marini and Peta Murgatroyd. Alley and Chmerkovskiy along with the other members received 27.0 out of 30, making their grand total 52.5 out of a possible 60. Then Alley and Chmerkovskiy, in the group country-western, gained two bonus points. Season 4 champion Apolo Anton Ohno and Karina Smirnoff chose a Quickstep-Samba fusion for Alley and Chmerkovskiy. The couple scored 24 out of a possible 30. For the swing marathon, they were eliminated first, making their total 28 out of 40. For the next week, Tristan MacManus joined the couple in their trio paso doble, but the couple received 79 out of a possible 100, leaving them 11.5 points behind at the bottom of the leaderboard, and they were eliminated. Also eliminated were Marini and Murgatroyd, who would have danced a "Mad Monk" Merengue, chosen by Ohno and Smirnoff, had they not been, finishing in 7th and 6th respectively. In February 2013, Chmerkovskiy announced his departure from Dancing with the Stars for Season 16.[13] Chmerkovskiy returned on the fifth week of Season 16 for "Len's Side-By-Side Challenge", where he danced with Anna Trebunskaya in an Argentine Tango with brother Val and his partner Zendaya and in a Jive with Jacoby Jones and his partnerKarina Smirnoff. For season 17, he was a guest judge during the semifinals in Week 10. On February 27, 2014, reports surfaced that after taking two seasons off, Chmerkovskiy would return for season 18.[14] For season 18, he was paired with Olympic ice dancer Meryl Davis. They were announced the winners on May 20, 2014, marking Chmerkovskiy's first win. They also have the current highest average of any dancer of the show with a 28.4 average, and are tied with Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough with the most amount of perfect 30's earning a total of 6 Dancing With the Stars performances * Season 2 – With celebrity partner: Tia Carrere (Average – 23.0) (Placed: 6th) * Season 3 – With celebrity partner: Willa Ford (Average – 24.4) (Placed: 7th) * Season 4 – With celebrity partner: Laila Ali (Average – 27.0) (Placed: 3rd) * Season 5 – With celebrity partner: Mel B (Average – 27.6) (Placed: 2nd) * Season 7 – With celebrity partner: Misty May-Treanor (Average – 21.0) (Placed: 10th) * Season 8 – With celebrity partner: Denise Richards (Average – 18.3) (Placed: 12th) *Season 9 – With celebrity partner: Debi Mazar (Average – 18.0) (Placed: 12th) *Score was awarded by stand in judge Baz Luhrmann. *Season 10 – With celebrity partner: Erin Andrews (Average – 24.6) (Placed: 3rd) *Season 11 – With celebrity partner: Brandy (Average – 26.0) (Placed: 4th) *Season 12 – With celebrity partner: Kirstie Alley (Average – 24.6) (Placed: 2nd) *Season 13 – With celebrity partner: Hope Solo (Average- 23.3) (Placed: 4th) *Season 14 – With celebrity partner: Melissa Gilbert (Average- 22.9) (Placed: 5th) *Season 15 – With celebrity partner: Kirstie Alley (Average- 24.2) (Placed: 7th) The additional score of 7.5 was awarded by guest judge Paula Abdul. *Season 18 – With celebrity partner: Meryl Davis (Average- 28.4) (Placed: 1st)